Charlotte Dacre’s debut novel Confessions of the Nun of St Omer (1805) was a bestseller in its day, launching the career of a woman who would go on to become one of the nineteenth century’s most notorious female novelists. The work tells the story of the wilful Cazire, who recounts her passionate and destructive youthful adventures from the convent where she now lives in seclusion. Although Dacre’s fame, then and now, rests largely on her sensationalist plots and portrayal of sexually self-possessed female villains, Confessions of the Nun of St. Omer shows a different side to her writing, one that is engaged in the political debate surrounding the French Revolution and eager to uphold the conservative moral line. Indeed, in many ways the novel strives to exemplify the moral and social orthodoxies of its time – dealing with themes of education, passion, seduction and the dangers of the radical ‘new philosophy’. Yet even at this early stage of her career the author’s frank exploration of the power of female desire reveals a willingness to experiment with themes left untouched by more conventional Romantic era novelists, themes that would dominate her writing for years to come. This edition of Charlotte Dacre’s book is based on the Chawton House Library copy of the text from 1805 and contains textual notes. The book will be of interest to those researching the Gothic, women’s writing and the development of the nineteenth-century novel.

Charlotte Dacre's debut novel was a bestseller, with two subsequent editions in two years. It tells the story of the wilful Cazire, whose passionate yet destructive adventures are recounted from the monastery where she now lives. The book will be of interest to those researching the Gothic, women's writing and the development of the nineteenth-century novel.

Charlotte Dacre’s debut novel Confessions of the Nun of St Omer (1805) was a bestseller in its day, launching the career of a woman who would go on to become one of the nineteenth century’s most notorious female novelists. The work tells the story of the wilful Cazire, who recounts her passionate and destructive youthful adventures from the convent where she now lives in seclusion. Although Dacre’s fame, then and now, rests largely on her sensationalist plots and portrayal of sexually self-possessed female villains, Confessions of the Nun of St. Omer shows a different side to her writing, one that is engaged in the political debate surrounding the French Revolution and eager to uphold the conservative moral line. Indeed, in many ways the novel strives to exemplify the moral and social orthodoxies of its time – dealing with themes of education, passion, seduction and the dangers of the radical ‘new philosophy’. Yet even at this early stage of her career the author’s frank exploration of the power of female desire reveals a willingness to experiment with themes left untouched by more conventional Romantic era novelists, themes that would dominate her writing for years to come. This edition of Charlotte Dacre’s book is based on the Chawton House Library copy of the text from 1805 and contains textual notes. The book will be of interest to those researching the Gothic, women’s writing and the development of the nineteenth-century novel.

Charlotte Dacre's The Confessions of the Nun of St Omer (1805) was a bestseller with two subsequent editions by 1807. It tells the story of the willful Cazire, a young woman who is most susceptible to romantic temptations. In this volume, Cazire discovers the identity of "Ariel" and gets married. However, a figure from her past returns and starts a relationship that sends them both hurtling towards a bloody, destructive ending.

Charlotte Dacre's The Confessions of the Nun of St Omer (1805) was a bestseller with two subsequent editions by 1807. It tells the story of the willful Cazire, a young woman who is most susceptible to romantic temptations. In this volume, the conflicted Cazire shrinks from her relationship with Fribourg, yet she is snared by the crafty Lindorf. Lindorf's betrayal leaves Cazire a broken, abandoned woman.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection includes the full-text of more than 9,500 English, French and German titles. The collection is sourced from the remarkable library of Victor Amadeus, whose Castle Corvey collection was one of the most spectacular discoveries of the late 1970s. The Corvey Collection comprises one of the most important collections of Romantic era writing in existence anywhere -- including fiction, short prose, dramatic works, poetry, and more -- with a focus on especially difficult-to-find works by lesser-known, historically neglected writers. The Corvey library was built during the last half of the 19th century by Victor and his wife Elise, both bibliophiles with varied interests. The collection thus contains everything from novels and short stories to belles lettres and more populist works, and includes many exceedingly rare works not available in any other collection from the period. These invaluable, sometimes previously unknown works are of particular interest to scholars and researchers. European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection includes: * Novels and Gothic Novels * Short Stories * Belles-Lettres * Short Prose Forms * Dramatic Works * Poetry * Anthologies * And more Selected with the guidance of an international team of expert advisors, these primary sources are invaluable for a wide range of academic disciplines and areas of study, providing never before possible research opportunities for one of the most studied historical periods. Additional Metadata Primary Id: B0623902 PSM Id: NCCOF0063-C00000-B0623902 DVI Collection Id: NCCOC0062 Bibliographic Id: NCCO001557 Reel: 4854 MCODE: 4UVC Original Publisher: Printed by D. N. Shury, for J. F. Hughes Original Publication Year: 1805 Subjects English fiction -- 19th century.

Now available again in paperback, this provocative study by Robert Miles uses the tools of modern literary theory and criticism to analyse this very distinctive body of texts. Miles introduces the reader to contexts of Gothic in the eigteenth century including its historical development and its placement within the period's concerns with discourse and gender. By using texts ranging from sensational novels such as The Monk and The Mysteries of Udolpho, poetic variations on Gothic by Coleridge, Shelley and Keats, to satirical works on the theme by Jane Austen, Miles presents an intriguing overview of Gothic literature. By drawing extensively on the ideas of Michel Foucault to establish a genealogy he brings Gothic writing in from the margins of 'popular fiction', resituating it at the centre of debate about Romanticism.